Text messaging for emergency response

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided to guide an emergency dispatcher in responding to emergency communications. The systems and methods may allow the dispatcher to use one or more of a plurality of different communication methods to communicate with a person needing assistance, such as by sending and receiving SMS/MMS messages. The systems and methods can include an emergency police, emergency fire, and/or emergency medical dispatch protocol configured to facilitate rapid, uniform, and consistent handling of communications. The emergency dispatch protocol presents a pre-scripted interrogation, including preprogrammed inquiries for a dispatcher to ask the person needing assistance. The emergency dispatcher may be able to easily send preprogrammed inquiries to the person needing assistance via SMS/MMS message and provide their responses to the emergency dispatch protocol quickly and/or automatically. The dispatch protocol may facilitate quick deployment of responders even if the person needing assistance cannot talk and/or hear.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/169,302, filed Jan. 31, 2014, and titled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TEXTMESSAGING FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE,” now published as U.S. PatentPublication 2014/0213212, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.§119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/759,312, filed Jan.31, 2013, and titled “TEXT MESSAGING FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE,” the entiredisclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

©2014 Priority Dispatch Corp. A portion of the disclosure of this patentdocument contains material that is subject to copyright protection. Thecopyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyoneof the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in thePatent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwisereserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR §1.71(d).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to computer systems and methods forproviding emergency protocol interrogation, instruction, and dispatch.More specifically, the disclosure is directed to systems and methods forsending SMS/MMS messages to and/or receiving SMS/MMS messages from aperson needing assistance while guiding a dispatcher duringinterrogation and instruction of the person needing assistance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the disclosure aredescribed, including various embodiments of the disclosure withreference to the figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an emergency police dispatch system,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an emergency police dispatch protocol of anemergency police dispatch system, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a user interface of an emergency police dispatch system,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a high-level flow diagram of a method of a dispatch protocolfor an emergency dispatch system, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a user interface of an emergency police dispatch system as theemergency police dispatch system traverses a logic tree of a protocolfor an emergency dispatch system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Emergency dispatchers may serve a critical role as the first and/or onlypersons to interface with a person needing assistance (e.g., a personcontacting, calling, and/or sending short messaging service (SMS) and/ormultimedia messaging service (MMS) messages to an emergency dispatchcenter). In their role of receiving emergency communication, emergencydispatchers are in a unique position and may potentially contribute tomore positive outcomes by providing a person needing assistance withcritical lifesaving instructions and by conducting a preciseinterrogation to gather specific information that will assist policeofficers in determining the appropriate response. Unfortunately, oftenemergency dispatchers are inexperienced and unskilled, largely due to ahigh turnover rate among emergency dispatchers.

An automated emergency dispatch system, potentially implemented on acomputer, can aid even an unskilled and inexperienced dispatcher inprioritizing emergency communications (e.g., emergency calls, emergencymessages, etc.) that are received and in processing the communicationsto generate an appropriate emergency dispatch response. Regardless ofthe experience or skill level of the dispatcher, the automated emergencydispatch system can enable a consistent and predictable emergencydispatch response, despite the diverse aspects of emergency situationsthat may be reported from one communication to the next.

In some situations, SMS/MMS may be the only, safest, and/or mostconvenient way to contact an emergency dispatch center. For example, aperson needing assistance may be hearing impaired, and/or the personneeding assistance may not be able to talk due to a hostile assailant inthe area, extreme background noise, a lack of oxygen (e.g., asthma orchoking), or the like. MMS may also be able to provide information thatcannot be conveyed in a phone call and/or SMS message, such as a pictureof a suspect and/or a video of an incident in progress. Unfortunately,existing emergency dispatch centers may be poorly equipped to receiveand/or send SMS/MMS messages. Additionally, even if a dispatch center isable to receive and/or send SMS/MMS messages, the SMS/MMS messagingcapability may not be integrated with automated emergency dispatchsystems.

In many emergency situations, speed is of the essence. Delays of secondsor minutes may lead to a poorer outcome for a person needing assistance.Having to copy and/or transcribe every question and/or response betweenan automated emergency dispatch system and an SMS/MMS messaging systemmay result in such delays. An automated emergency dispatch system couldsave time and/or effect better outcomes by being able to send questionsand/or receive responses automatically and/or with little operatoreffort.

The automated emergency dispatch system may be configured to sendSMS/MMS messages itself and/or may be communicatively coupled with amessaging system that can be instructed by the automated emergencydispatch system to send SMS/MMS messages. The automated emergencydispatch system may be configured to automatically transmitpreprogrammed inquiries via SMS/MMS message to a person needingassistance who has contacted the emergency dispatch center, and/or theautomated emergency dispatch system may transmit the preprogrammedinquiries via SMS/MMS message in response to an input by a dispatcher.To save time, the automated emergency dispatch system may transmit theSMS/MMS message in response to no more than zero, one, two, three, orfour actions by the dispatcher. For example, the dispatcher may be ableto select the preprogrammed inquiry to be sent by right-clicking on thepreprogrammed inquiry to bring up a menu and clicking on a “send SMS”command in the menu. Alternatively, or in addition, the actions may besingle key-strokes. The dispatcher may not be required to type an entirequestion and/or required to copy and paste the question.

The automated emergency dispatch system may be configured to shorten thepreprogrammed inquiries prior to sending the SMS/MMS message, forexample, by replacing one or more words with common abbreviations.Similarly, the automated emergency dispatch system may instruct theperson needing assistance regarding abbreviations that can be used in aresponsive SMS/MMS message, such as, instructing the person needingassistance to transmit a “1” for yes and a “2” for no. In someembodiments, the automated emergency dispatch system may automaticallyselect a preprogrammed answer to the preprogrammed inquiry based on theresponsive SMS/MMS message from the person needing assistance. Forexample, the automated emergency dispatch system may recognize that thenumeral “1” was sent in response and that this represents a “yes”response. The automated emergency dispatch system may indicate theautomatically selected preprogrammed answer to the dispatcher and mayrequire confirmation of the selected preprogrammed answer beforeproceeding to the next preprogrammed inquiry.

The automated emergency dispatch system may log all SMS/MMS messagessent and received by the system. For example, the automated emergencydispatch system may store a time stamp for each message and/or thecontents (e.g., text, photo, video, etc.) of each message to apersistent storage device. The automated emergency dispatch system mayensure that SMS/MMS messages are properly routed to and from peopleneeding assistance. In some embodiments, the automated emergencydispatch system may be coupled to a computer network. The automatedemergency dispatch system may then translate a telephone number for theperson needing assistance to a computer network address and/or maydetermine the computer network address from a message (e.g., from theheader of a message) received from the person needing assistance. Theautomated emergency dispatch system may automatically register its owncomputer network address with one or more telephone service providers soSMS/MMS messages from people needing assistance are sent to theappropriate emergency dispatch center.

The embodiments of the disclosure will be best understood by referenceto the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numeralsthroughout. It will be readily understood that the components of thedisclosed embodiments, as generally described and illustrated in thefigures herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety ofdifferent configurations. Thus, the following detailed description ofthe embodiments of the systems and methods of the disclosure is notintended to limit the scope of the disclosure, as claimed, but is merelyrepresentative of possible embodiments of the disclosure. In addition,the steps of a method do not necessarily need to be executed in anyspecific order, or even sequentially, nor need the steps be executedonly once, unless otherwise specified.

In some cases, well-known features, structures or operations are notshown or described in detail. Furthermore, the described features,structures, or operations may be combined in any suitable manner in oneor more embodiments. It will also be readily understood that thecomponents of the embodiments as generally described and illustrated inthe figures herein could be arranged and designed in a wide variety ofdifferent configurations.

Several aspects of the embodiments described will be illustrated assoftware modules or components. As used herein, a software module orcomponent may include any type of computer instruction orcomputer-executable code located within a memory device and/orcomputer-readable storage medium. A software module may, for instance,comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computerinstructions, which may be organized as a routine, program, object,component, data structure, etc., that performs one or more tasks orimplements particular abstract data types.

In certain embodiments, a particular software module may comprisedisparate instructions stored in different locations of a memory storagedevice, which together implement the described functionality of themodule. Indeed, a module may comprise a single instruction or manyinstructions, and may be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across several memory devices.Some embodiments may be practiced in a distributed computing environmentwhere tasks are performed by a remote processing device linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, softwaremodules may be located in local and/or remote memory storage devices. Inaddition, data being tied or rendered together in a database record maybe resident in the same memory device, or across several memory devices,and may be linked together in fields of a record in a database across anetwork.

Suitable software to assist in implementing the invention is readilyprovided by those of skill in the pertinent art(s) using the teachingspresented here and programming languages and tools, such as Java,Pascal, C++, C, database languages, APIs, SDKs, assembly, firmware,microcode, and/or other languages and tools.

An emergency dispatch system as disclosed herein may becomputer-implemented in whole or in part on a digital computer. Thedigital computer includes a processor performing the requiredcomputations. The computer further includes a memory in electroniccommunication with the processor to store a computer operating system.The computer operating systems may include, but are not limited to,MS-DOS, Windows, Linux, Unix, AIX, CLIX, QNX, OS/2, and Apple.Alternatively, it is expected that future embodiments will be adapted toexecute on other future operating systems. The memory may also storeapplication programs including a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) program,an automated emergency dispatch protocol, and a user interface program.The memory may also include data storage. The computer may furtherinclude an output device, such as a display unit, for viewing thedisplayed instructions and inquiries and a user input device forinputting response data.

FIG. 1 is an emergency police dispatch system 100, according to oneembodiment. At a dispatch center 102, a dispatcher 104 may operate acomputer 106 or other computing device. The computer 106 may include amemory 107 to store protocols, modules, tools, data, etc. The computer106 may be configured to follow an emergency police dispatch protocol108 to enable the dispatcher 104 to rapidly and consistently address anemergency incident involving a crime, or otherwise requesting lawenforcement, as reported by a person needing assistance 118. Anemergency communication requesting law enforcement may report anincident that may involve a victim 117. As can be appreciated, in somecircumstances and/or incidents, the person needing assistance 118 is thevictim 117. In other instances the person needing assistance may be a2nd party (e.g., a person with the victim 117), 3rd party (e.g., aperson not in the immediate vicinity of the victim 117), 4th party(e.g., a reporting or referral agency), or the suspect (or perpetrator).The emergency police dispatch protocol 108 may include a logic tree,preprogrammed inquiries or questions, possible responses from a personneeding assistance 118 to the inquiries, and instructions to the personneeding assistance 118. The responses may route to subsequentpreprogrammed inquiries and/or instructions to the person needingassistance 118. The emergency police dispatch protocol 108 may alsoinclude dispatch protocols 124 for guiding the dispatcher 104 inprocessing emergency communications involving specific situations and/orincidents. The dispatch protocols 124 may similarly include a logictree, preprogrammed inquiries or questions, possible responses from theperson needing assistance 118 to the preprogrammed inquiries, andinstructions for the person needing assistance 118. It should beunderstood that although an emergency police dispatch protocol 108 isincluded in the illustrated embodiment, other dispatch protocols, suchas an emergency fire dispatch protocol and/or an emergency medicaldispatch protocol, may be included in other embodiments, and the victim117 may instead be a patient.

The responses of the person needing assistance 118 are processedaccording to predetermined logic of the logic tree of the emergencypolice dispatch protocol 108. The predetermined logic may enable theemergency police dispatch system 100 to provide to the dispatcher 104information concerning the correct emergency police dispatch response(e.g., by trained law enforcement officers or agencies and/or otheremergency responders). The predetermined logic may also enable theemergency police dispatch system 100 to provide to the dispatcher 104appropriate post-dispatch instructions for relay to the person needingassistance 118 before professional help arrives at the scene. Thepredetermined logic may also enable the emergency police dispatch system100 to aid the dispatcher 104 in determining an appropriate priority ofthe emergency communication, including but not limited to a priority ofthe emergency communication relative to other emergency communicationsand a level of emergency response to provide for the reported incidentor situation.

Although an emergency police dispatch system 100 is disclosed anddescribed herein, a person of ordinary skill can appreciate that otheremergency dispatch systems and protocols are contemplated, including butnot limited to emergency medical dispatch systems and protocols andemergency fire dispatch systems and protocols. Exemplary embodiments ofemergency dispatch systems and protocols are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,857,966; 5,989,187; 6,004,266; 6,010,451; 6,053,864; 6,076,065;6,078,894; 6,106,459; 6,607,481; 7,106,835; 7,428,301; 7,436,937;7,645,234; 8,066,638; 8,103,523; 8,294,570; 8,335,298; and 8,355,483,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

The computer 106 operates a determinant value calculator 110 tocalculate a determinant value from the responses of the person needingassistance 118 to protocol questions. The determinant value may beselected from a group of pre-established determinant values, such thatthe emergency responders are familiar with the determinant values andunderstand the meaning of each and what would be a correspondingemergency response. For example, the determinant values may range, forexample, from E-1 for generally very serious emergencies to Ω-2 forgenerally less serious emergencies. The determinant value may provide acategorization code of the type and level of the incident.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the determinant value is acombination of a determinant level (Alpha A, Bravo B, Charlie C, DeltaD, Echo E and Omega Ω) and a numeric value. Generally, Ω-2 is the leastserious while E-1 is the most serious communication. Depending on thedeterminant level, the appropriate emergency response is dispatched asindicated by the response protocol. For example, an Alpha-Acommunication will typically be responded to by a next-available lawenforcement unit using the safest arrival method reasonably possible. ADelta-D communication will typically be responded to by any or allavailable law enforcement units proceeding under the most urgent methodpossible. Echo-E communications typically involve likely immediatelife-threatening situations and will be responded to in the most urgentmanner available. Bravo-B and Charlie-C communications are intermediateemergencies that are typically responded to in business-like, orderlymanner according to specific department protocol. An Omega-Ωcommunication is generally not specifically responded to, but rather isreferred to another person or agency. For the purposes of thisdisclosure, Echo-E is generally abbreviated as E; Delta-D is generallyabbreviated as D; Charlie-C is generally abbreviated as C; Bravo-B isgenerally abbreviated as B; Alpha-A is generally abbreviated as A; andOmega-Ω is generally abbreviated as Ω. Generally, the lower determinantlevels (e.g., numbers) within a determinant classification are moreurgent than higher numbers. For example, an emergency dispatchcommunication with a determinant value of D-1 is generally more criticaland requires a more urgent response than a communication with adeterminant value of D-2. However, in some instances, the numericdeterminant levels within a determinant value may serve only to identifythe type, rather than criticality of the communication. Also, if morethan one determinant value can be assigned to a particularcommunication, the more critical or higher determinant value isassigned. That is, the communication is assigned a criticalitydeterminant value based on the fact or aspect that would lead to themost urgent response. For example, if the communication concerns aburglary that occurred over 30 minutes before, but where the suspectremains on the scene or nearby and the person needing assistance 118indicates that he or she is still in danger and feels his or her life isin imminent danger, then the determinant value assigned would be E-1(due to the imminent danger) rather than D-2 (suspect on scene ornearby) or B-1 (incident occurred over 30 minutes before).

Many communications for law enforcement are not true emergencies, so itis important to prioritize the communications in several ways. First,communications that are true emergencies should be dispatched first.Second, if an agency has units with different capabilities, theemergencies involving more severe problems can be sent units that aremore skilled and advanced (e.g., a S.W.A.T. team or bomb squad). Andfinally, if lights and siren are not needed, they should not be used,thereby increasing the safety of all those on the road and in theemergency response vehicles. The computer 106 presents the determinantvalue to generate an appropriate emergency dispatch response and/orestablish the priority of the emergency communication. The response mayinclude dispatching professional law enforcement officers or otheremergency responders to the scene of the emergency. The protocols usedshall have passed through a rigorous review by a panel of experiencedlaw enforcement agents and EMS public safety experts.

The determinant value may be provided to a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD)system 112, which is a tool that a dispatcher 104 may use to track andallocate emergency response resources for processing emergencycommunications. The CAD system 112 may manage dispatcher tools forprocessing emergency communications, including but not limited to theemergency police dispatch protocol 108, responder communicationresources (e.g., radio system, alpha pager), mapping tools (e.g., globalpositioning system (GPS) technology, geographic information systems(GIS)), and vehicle location systems (e.g., automatic vehicle location(AVL)). The CAD system 112 may operate in whole or in part on a separatecomputer in communication with the computer 106. In another embodiment,the CAD system 112 operates on the computer 106. The primary informationused by the CAD system 112 is location information of the incident andunits, unit availability, and the type of incident. The CAD system 112may use third party solutions, such as E-911, vehicle locationtransponders, and mobile data terminals (MDTs) for automating thelocation and availability tasks. The CAD 112 system may also use anemergency police dispatch protocol 108 to facilitate structuredcommunication for incident interrogation, as previously described.

Although many emergency communications are not true emergencies, allsituations can benefit from expert evaluation and pertinent instruction.Prior to the arrival of professional help on-scene, the emergency policedispatch protocol 108 may provide the dispatcher 104 with instructionsfor the person needing assistance 118 that are appropriate to the typeof communication, whether the communication relates to a complaint ofvandalism or to a homicide. These instructions may help expedite thework of law enforcement officers and/or other emergency responders.

The computer 106 may include a reporting component 114 to statisticallymeasure the performance of individual staff and overall performance ofthe dispatch center 102. To record information received during acommunication, the dispatcher 104 may be required to open a new case.Once the communication is complete, the dispatcher 104 may close thecase, and a case summary may be saved. The case summary may be retrievedlater for review and/or analysis. The reporting component 114 maydetermine statistics from the case summaries and/or while the cases areopen. The statistics may include compliance rates, call/communicationprocessing statistics, and peer measurements.

The computer 106 may further comprise an input device 128, such as akeyboard, mouse, touch screen, laser pointer, or other input device, andalso an output device 130, such as a display monitor. The input device128 receives input from a user (generally the dispatcher 104) andprovides the input to the emergency police dispatch system 100. Theinput may be provided to the computer 106, the emergency police dispatchprotocol 108, a diagnostic tool 120, and/or the CAD system 112. Theoutput device 130 receives output from the emergency police dispatchsystem 100 and displays or otherwise provides the output to the user. Inanother embodiment, the input device 128 and output device 130 areprovided by the CAD system 112.

The dispatch center 102 includes a communication device 116 (e.g.,telephone equipment) to answer emergency communications. Thecommunication device 116 may be configured to send and/or receivecommunications using one or more different methods and may include atelephone coupled to a public switch telephone network (PSTN) (e.g., alandline telephone); a telephone coupled to a computer network (e.g., aVoIP telephone); a telephone configured to communicate via radio waves(e.g., a mobile phone); a system, which may or may not include atelephone, configured to send and/or receive SMS and/or MMS messages viaa PSTN, a computer network and/or radio waves; and/or the like. Thecommunication device 116 may include multiple communication systems,such as a landline telephone and a system configured to send and receiveSMS/MMS messages via a network. As can be appreciated, the particularmethods of communication used may change as technology evolves. Someand/or all of the communication device 116 may be implemented on thecomputer 106 (e.g., when communicating via a computer network).Alternatively, the communication device 116 may be coupled to thecomputer 106.

The communication device 116 may be configured to determine a computernetwork address (e.g., an internet protocol address, email address,etc.) corresponding to a telephone number of the person needingassistance 118. For example, the communication device 116 may determinea telephone service provider based on the telephone number and mayconstruct the computer network address based on the phone serviceprovider and the telephone number. Alternatively, or in addition, thecommunication device 116 may determine the computer network addressbased on a source address specified in a communication from the personneeding assistance 118. The communication device 116 may register acomputer network address of the communication device 116 so SMS/MMSmessages are properly routed by the telephone service providers. Forexample, the communication device 116 may inform the telephone serviceproviders and/or a third party of one or more telephone numbers,telephone number ranges, telephone exchanges, and/or geographic areasthat are serviced by the emergency dispatch center 102 and the computernetwork address that should be used to contact the emergency dispatchcenter 102.

A message interface component (not shown) may be a component of anautomated emergency dispatch system. The message interface component 122may enable the emergency police dispatch protocol 108, determinant valuecalculator 110, reporting component 114, diagnostic tools 120, and/ordispatch protocols 124 to interact with the communication device 116. Insome embodiments, the message interface component 122 may also orinstead be a component of the communication device 116 and/or may itselfbe able to send communications to and/or receive communications from theperson needing assistance 118. The message interface component 122 mayalso be able to translate sent and/or received communications by usingand/or deciphering common and/or custom abbreviations, shorthand, and/orthe like. For example, a person needing assistance 118 may be instructedto respond to a question by sending an SMS containing “1” for an answerof yes and “2” for an answer of no and/or by dialing the same on theirtelephone keypad. The message interface component 122 may translate thereceived SMS and/or dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signal into thecorresponding answer.

A communication received at the dispatch center 102 from a personneeding assistance 118 may initiate creation of an emergencycommunication incident. The dispatcher 104 identifies the communicationas requiring an emergency police dispatch, and the emergency policedispatch protocol 108 is accessed. The protocol 108, including thedispatch protocols 124, may provide questions and/or instructions thatare expertly drafted to assist a novice person needing assistance 118 inreporting aspects of the incident, and/or assessing a situation of avictim 117. The protocol 108 may also provide expertly draftedinstructions to assist a victim 117 prior to the arrival of trained lawenforcement and/or emergency responders. The instructions may be vocallyrelayed and/or sent as one or more SMS/MMS messages by the dispatcher104 to the person needing assistance 118 over the communication device116.

Some protocol inquiries or questions may be readily answerable by theperson needing assistance 118, whereas others may be more difficult toanswer. Certain diagnostic inquiries may be difficult for the untrainedperson needing assistance 118 to determine or may be difficult to answerunder the stress of an emergency situation. Accordingly, in addition toinstructions, the emergency police dispatch system 100 may provide oneor more computer-implemented diagnostic tools 120. The diagnostic tools120 may greatly improve information collection and intervention foremergency police response situations and aid in saving lives.

A diagnostic tool 120 may aid the dispatcher 104 and/or the personneeding assistance 118 (via instructions from the dispatcher 104) inassessing a situation of a victim 117. A diagnostic tool 120 may also bean interventional tool, providing instructions that direct a personneeding assistance 118 to intervene, or take action, to aid a victim117, or otherwise change the circumstances or conditions of an emergencysituation. For sake of clarity, diagnostic tools and interventionaltools are both referred to herein generally as diagnostic tools.Accordingly, a diagnostic tool 120, as referred to herein, may providediagnostic instructions, interventional instructions, or both diagnosticand interventional instructions. Whether a diagnostic tool 120 providesmerely diagnostic instructions, merely interventional instructions, orboth diagnostic and interventional instructions, the diagnostic tool 120provides consistent and reliable instruction, information gathering,and/or timing for a particular emergency situation.

The diagnostic tools 120 are computer-implemented software modules thatenable a dispatcher 104 to provide consistent, expert advice to assist aperson needing assistance 118 with regard to a particular aspect of anemergency situation, such as determining a vital sign. One benefit ofthe diagnostic tools 120 is the computer-aided timing of techniques todetermine the vital signs. In highly stressful conditions, thediagnostic tools 120 provide a necessary resource to reading criticalsigns. The diagnostic tools 120 may be stored in the memory of thecomputer 106 and initiated and executed as required. The diagnostictools 120 may be embodied as computer-executable software applicationsand associated data.

The emergency police dispatch protocol 108, including the dispatchprotocols 124, also may call on one or more diagnostic tools 120 toassist with an inquiry and may route to the appropriate diagnostic tool120 when needed. When directed according to the protocol, the emergencypolice dispatch protocol 108 may automatically, i.e., without dispatcherintervention, initiate the appropriate diagnostic tool 120. This mayoccur when the emergency police dispatch protocol 108 arrives at adiagnosis or assessment step in the logic tree. The emergency policedispatch system 100 may also allow the dispatcher 104 the option to callupon a diagnostic tool 120 as desired. Icons may be displayed in a toolbar or other convenient location on a user interface to allow thedispatcher 104 to initiate a corresponding diagnostic tool 120.

FIG. 2 is a high-level flow diagram of an emergency police dispatchprotocol 108 of an emergency police dispatch system, according to oneembodiment. The protocol 108 may begin with a case entry protocol 202that guides the dispatcher in gathering initial information. One aim ofthe case entry protocol 202 is to obtain sufficient information from theperson needing assistance to permit identification of a chief complaint.Also, the case entry protocol 202 may be considered a primaryinterrogation because all communications may be processed through thecase entry protocol 202 to gather initial incident information. Theinformation received through the case entry protocol 202 may include alocation of the incident, communication identifiers and/or addresses,such as a call-back number in the event a call is disconnected, theperson needing assistance's name, and a description of the incident.

If the dispatcher receives and enters information that an incident isespecially critical (e.g., an active assailant, a person needingassistance in imminent danger, a sinking vehicle, a vehicle in risingflood water, or a stuck accelerator and cannot stop vehicle), forwhatever reason, an emergency response is dispatched 204 immediately,before continuing with any further interrogation or instructions. Thedispatched 204 emergency response may be a maximum emergency response,including properly trained law enforcement officers. The criticality ofthe incident 206 is verified and pre-arrival instructions are given 208.The pre-arrival instructions can be tailored to the specific incidentand/or situation. Typically, a result of properly conveyed (by thedispatcher) and executed (by the person needing assistance) pre-arrivalinstructions may be a more calm, stable situation at the time the lawenforcement emergency responders arrive, and/or reduced risk of injuryor death for the person needing assistance. The pre-arrival instructionsmay aid to ensure safety and improve the effectiveness of the dispatched204 emergency response.

If the dispatcher receives information from the person needingassistance to confirm the incident is not critical (e.g., not animminent danger), but the dispatcher lacks sufficient information toproceed directly to a dispatch protocol 124, the emergency policedispatch protocol 108 may shunt to additional interrogations 210designed to guide the dispatcher to gather information from the personneeding assistance to enable the dispatcher to ascertain the chiefcomplaint. If the chief complaint is determined, the emergency policedispatch protocol 108 may shunt to the appropriate dispatch protocol 124for dealing with that chief complaint.

The dispatch protocol 124 may guide the dispatcher through a secondaryinterrogation focusing on the chief complaint. The dispatch protocol 124may present a pre-scripted interrogation to enable a more orderly anddetailed understanding of the incident that can be communicated to lawenforcement emergency responders. The pre-scripted interrogation mayinclude preprogrammed inquiries focused on gathering informationrelating to the chief complaint. The preprogrammed inquiries provided bythe dispatch protocol 124 may be termed “Key Questions” for theparticular situation or condition of the chief complaint. Thepreprogrammed inquiries presented may depend on responses from theperson needing assistance. Verifying 206 the criticality of the incidentand giving 208 pre-arrival instructions may include traversing the logictree of the dispatch protocol 124. Dispatch protocols 124, in general,are discussed in greater detail below with reference to FIG. 4.

During the dispatch protocol 124, the dispatcher and/or the emergencypolice dispatch protocol 108 will gather information about thecircumstances of the incident or emergency situation, discovered throughinterrogation, and may dispatch 214 an appropriate emergency dispatchresponse. The dispatch protocol 124 facilitates uniform and consistentgathering of information relating to the emergency and dispatching of anappropriate emergency dispatch response. The appropriate emergencydispatch response may be determined through a system of assigningdeterminant values as the protocol progresses (i.e., traverses) througha logic tree. The determinant values, as described above, may range, forexample, from E-1 for generally very serious emergencies to Ω-2 forgenerally less serious emergencies. In another embodiment, thedeterminant values may range from, for example, E-1 for generally veryserious emergencies to A-2 for generally less serious emergencies. Instill another embodiment, the determinant values may range differently,such as for example from A-1 for generally very serious emergencies toE-5 for generally less serious emergencies.

After the appropriate emergency dispatch response has been sent (e.g.,law enforcement officers), the dispatcher may remain in communicationwith the person needing assistance to provide 216 post-dispatchinstructions regarding what to do, and what not to do, prior to thearrival of law enforcement officers. The post-dispatch instructions helpto stabilize the situation, and to expedite the work of law enforcementofficers at the scene. Post-dispatch instructions may include, forexample, “do not disturb anything at the scene, including weapons,tools, or objects found nearby,” “stay on the line and I'll tell youexactly what to do next,” and the like.

FIG. 3 is a user interface 300 of an emergency police dispatch system,according to one embodiment. The emergency police dispatch system userinterface 300 allows a dispatcher to interface with the emergency policedispatch protocol. The illustrated user interface 300 is showntraversing a case entry protocol 202 of the emergency police dispatchprotocol 108 (described above with reference to FIG. 2). The emergencypolice dispatch protocol may present inquiries 302 (or questions) viathe emergency police dispatch system user interface 300. The inquiries302 are provided for the dispatcher to relay to the person needingassistance to gather information regarding the reported incident oremergency. The dispatcher and/or the emergency police dispatch systemmay gather the information in the form of responses to the inquiries 302from the person needing assistance.

The dispatcher may input the responses of the person needing assistanceto the inquiries into response fields 304 provided by the user interface300. The response fields 304 may include, for example, any of a numberof appropriate input field types, including but not limited to textfields, text boxes, menus, drop-down menus, drop-down selection boxes,lists, buttons, check boxes, radio buttons, and/or hybrid fields. Forexample, a text field for identifying the problem may allow for freeforminput but also provide a list of suggestions to the dispatcher that canbe inserted into the text field by clicking and/or double-clicking anentry in the list. The response fields 304 may correspond to informationindicative of one or more responses to the inquiries 302 from the personneeding assistance. In some embodiments, the inquiries 302 may changefrom an interrogative form to an assertional form after a response hasbeen entered and/or when a cursor is not in the corresponding responsefield 304.

The responses from the person needing assistance are relayed from theperson needing assistance to the dispatcher, for example, over thetelephone or via an SMS/MMS message. Information from the responses ofthe person needing assistance may be input into the system by thedispatcher and may be used by the emergency police dispatch protocol todetermine subsequent inquiries 302 and instructions to present to thedispatcher. The response information may indicate the person needingassistance's observations of the incident and/or current situation. Theemergency police dispatch system may use the response information togenerate an emergency police dispatch response by properly trained lawenforcement officers. The information gathered from the responses of theperson needing assistance may be used by the determinant valuecalculator to calculate a determinant value that can be communicated tothe emergency responders. Additional details relating to emergencypolice dispatch protocols and user interfaces to interact with the samecan be found in the earlier referenced U.S. patents. In addition,similar concepts are discussed below in relation to a dispatch protocolwith reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The dispatcher may be able to send and/or receive SMS and/or MMSmessages directly from the user interface 300. For example, in anembodiment, the dispatcher may be able to right-click one of theinquiries 302 and see an SMS menu 306. The SMS menu 306 may not bedisplayed if the dispatcher right-clicks on an area without text. TheSMS menu 306 may provide a Send SMS option 306 a. If the dispatcherclicks on the Send SMS option 306 a, the preprogrammed inquiry may besent to the person needing assistance without requiring any furtheraction by the dispatcher. Accordingly, in an embodiment, anypreprogrammed inquiry may be sent to a person needing assistance withonly two clicks. In other embodiments, the dispatcher may be able toedit the preprogrammed inquiry before sending, and/or the dispatcher maybe required to highlight the portion of the inquiry to be sent. The SMSmenu 306 may also provide a Send Clarification option 306 b, which maylaunch a freeform text box for allowing the dispatcher to send anymessage desired. Although the illustrated embodiment includes a contextmenu for sending messages, any of a number of appropriate inputs may beused to send messages, including but not limited to text fields, textboxes, menus, drop-down menus, drop-down selection boxes, lists,buttons, check boxes, and radio buttons. For example, a button with apicture of an envelope on it may be provided next to each of thepreprogrammed inquiries 302 and/or in other locations of the userinterface 300.

Information from received SMS/MMS messages may be quickly and easilyimported into the response fields 304. For example, the received messagemay be displayed using a pop-up window (not shown), such as analways-on-top window, and the response in the received message may beimported by right-clicking the response fields 304 and/or the window andselecting from a context menu an option to import the response. Othersmethods of importing the response may be used, such as copy and paste.Alternatively, the user interface 300 may be aware of the lastpreprogrammed inquiry sent and may automatically deliver the receivedresponse in the corresponding response field. The user interface 300 mayautomatically proceed to the next question after the response isreceived and/or allow the dispatcher to edit the response beforeproceeding. Sent questions may be shortened using common abbreviations,and/or common abbreviations within responses may be written out whenimported and/or delivered to the response fields 304. A dialog boxand/or a field in the user interface (not shown) may display allmessages sent and/or received and may include a time stamp for eachmessage.

The user interface 300 may further comprise tabs 310 to aid inorganizing and/or compartmentalizing various aspects of processing acommunication. The tabs 310 may include a tab 310 a for presenting acase entry protocol portion of an emergency police dispatch protocol(e.g., “Entry” tab). Other tabs 310 may include a tab for presenting adispatch protocol portion of the emergency police dispatch protocol(e.g., a “KQ” tab or Key Questions tab), a tab for presentingpost-dispatch instructions and/or critical EMD information (e.g., a“PDI/CEI” tab), a tab for dispatching life support (e.g., a “DLS” tab),and a tab summarizing the communication and/or processing of thecommunication (e.g., “Summary” tab). The KQ tab is discussed below withreference to FIG. 5.

FIG. 4 is a high-level flow diagram of a method 400 implemented by adispatch protocol 124 (FIG. 1) for an emergency dispatch system,according to one embodiment. The dispatch protocol 124 facilitatesuniform and consistent gathering of information relating to the reportedchief complaint. Generally, but not always, sub-protocols within thedispatch protocol 124 for responding to specific incidents mayinitialize from a prior sub-protocol. The prior sub-protocol may be acase entry protocol, which may branch to a sub-protocol appropriate forhandling the chief complaint of the communication once all or a portionof the case entry protocol has been traversed. In some instances theprior sub-protocol may be a different sub-protocol, from which adetermination was made to shunt to a more appropriate sub-protocol. Thedetermination to shunt may be made automatically by the priorsub-protocol or manually by the dispatcher.

The dispatch protocol may present 404 preprogrammed inquiries accordingto a pre-scripted interrogation. The preprogrammed inquiries may also bereferred to as “Key Questions,” targeted to ascertain the criticality ofthe incident or situation and typically are based on the chiefcomplaint. The preprogrammed inquiries may be considered a part of apre-scripted interrogation that is based on a logic tree of the dispatchprotocol 124. The preprogrammed inquiries that are presented as part ofa pre-scripted interrogation may depend on dispatcher-entered input. Apre-scripted interrogation may be considered to be a set ofpreprogrammed inquiries presented according to traversal of a path alongthe logic tree.

Data is received 406 from the dispatcher, as relayed from the personneeding assistance, following the preprogrammed inquiries asked to theperson needing assistance by the dispatcher. The data received 406 maycorrespond to responses from the person needing assistance to thepreprogrammed inquiries. The data may be used to determine subsequentquestions, or to determine instructions to provide to the dispatcher.The data may be received substantially in real time, as the dispatcherprovides inputs the data. Alternatively, or in addition, the input maybe received from the emergency police dispatch system becauseinformation sought by the dispatch protocol 124 may have previously beenobtained from the dispatcher via the case entry protocol and/or anotherportion of the dispatch protocol 124. Alternatively, or in addition, theinput may be received from a diagnostic tool. The dispatcher-enteredinput relates to the emergency communication and/or the reportedincident. The dispatcher-entered input may affect the path along whichthe logic tree is traversed.

The received data is also used by the protocol to determine 408 adeterminant value and/or update an already determined determinant value.Intermediate determinant values may be produced as information isreceived and processed, and the final determinant value may bedetermined after all information is received and processed. The dispatchprotocol may provide 410 appropriate instructions to be relayed to theperson needing assistance by the dispatcher. The instructions maycomprise post-dispatch instructions for the person needing assistance tohelp stabilize or otherwise ameliorate a situation and to expedite thework of law enforcement officers at the scene. A database may beaccessed to produce appropriate instructions. Records of thecommunications may be stored 412 for historical reports, for review andanalysis of dispatcher performance, and for continued quality assurancecontrol. A record of a communication may include, but is not limited toinquiries, responses, and determinant values.

As can be appreciated, some or all of the information gathered by thepre-scripted interrogation may not be used, for example, in calculatinga determinant value. Similarly, some or all the information may not becommunicated to the emergency responder law enforcement officers.However, the information gathered may be used, or stored for later use,by law enforcement and/or emergency dispatch services, for example, toreview the response and/or identify ways to improve future responses.

As can also be appreciated, the spelling and/or sentence structure ofthe preprogrammed inquiries may vary according to the geographiclocation or region where the emergency police dispatch system may bedeployed.

FIG. 5 is a user interface 300 of an emergency police dispatch system asthe emergency police dispatch system presents a pre-scriptedinterrogation, traversing one path of a logic tree of the dispatchprotocol 124, according to one embodiment. As previously explainedabove, with reference to FIG. 3, the emergency police dispatch systemuser interface 300 allows a dispatcher to interface with the emergencypolice dispatch protocol.

The user interface 300 presents one or more tabs 310, including a tab310 b (e.g., a key questions or “KQ” tab) that is configured to presentpreprogrammed inquiries (e.g., key questions) as part of a pre-scriptedinterrogation of a dispatch protocol. The particular questions presentedmay depend on the dispatch protocol and the path along a logic tree ofthe dispatch protocol that may be traversed based on responses from theperson needing assistance to the preprogrammed inquiries. Typically, butnot always, the user interface 300 will present the tab 310 b (e.g. aKey Questions or “KQ” tab) upon completion of the case entry protocol ontab 310 a (i.e., the “Entry” tab”). If sufficient information isavailable to identify a chief complaint, the emergency police dispatchprotocol may shunt to an appropriate dispatch protocol, present tab 310b, initialize the appropriate dispatch protocol, and traverse theappropriate dispatch protocol 124.

FIG. 5 illustrates the user interface 300 presenting a preprogrammedinquiry 504 “Where's the suspect/person responsible now?” for thedispatcher to relay to the person needing assistance. An input field 505enables the dispatcher to quickly and easily enter input indicative ofthe person needing assistance's response to the preprogrammed inquiry504. In the illustrated embodiment, the input field 505 provided is alist box presenting a list of acceptable inputs. As will be appreciated,the input field 505 may be any of a number of appropriate input fieldtypes, including but not limited to text fields, text boxes, menus,drop-down menus, drop-down selection boxes, lists, buttons, check boxes,and radio buttons. In FIG. 5, the list of acceptable inputs may include“Detained,” “On scene,” “Still in area,” “Left area,” “Circulating thearea,” and “Unknown.” In FIG. 5, the input “Detained,” is presentlyselected.

The dispatcher may be able to send an SMS and/or MMS message containingthe preprogrammed inquiry 504. In some embodiments, the dispatcher maybe able to right-click the preprogrammed inquiry 504, and an SMS menu506 may be displayed. In an embodiment, the SMS menu 506 may bedisplayed only if the dispatcher right-clicks on the preprogrammedinquiry. The SMS menu 506 may provide a Translate (<Send Key Question>)option 506 a, which may be clicked by the dispatcher. When selected, theTranslate (<Send Key Question>) option 506 a may automatically shortenand/or abbreviate the preprogrammed inquiry and/or may provide easyresponse options based on the expected answer. For example, either“suspect” or “person responsible” may be used instead of “suspect/personresponsible.” Also, the person needing assistance may be instructed torespond with a number code, such as “1” for detained, “2” for on scene,“3” for still in area, “4” for left area, “5” for circulating the area,and “6” for unknown. In other embodiments, alternative response optionsmay be provided in addition or instead, such as the first letter of eachanswer or the like. The SMS menu 506 may also provide a Translate (<SendClarification>) option 506 b, to send a custom message, for example, toclarify the preprogrammed inquiry 504. As previously explained above,with reference to FIG. 3, the user interface 300 may provide other inputmethods to allow the dispatcher to send a message. Also, informationother than preprogrammed inquiries, such as post-dispatch and/orpre-arrival instructions and/or inquiries and/or instructions from adiagnostic tool 120 (FIG. 1), may be sent via SMS and/or MMS messageusing the user interface 300, for example, by right-clicking andselecting an option to send the instruction as an SMS and/or MMSmessage.

When a response is received, an answer in the input field 505 may beselected automatically. For example, if the person needing assistance isinstructed to reply with a number corresponding to the answer, the userinterface 300 may automatically select an answer in the input field 505corresponding to the number received. The user interface 300 mayautomatically proceed to the next preprogrammed inquiry, and/or theanswer may be highlighted to allow the dispatcher to proceed quickly bysingle-clicking or hitting the space or Enter key. For preprogrammedinquiries accepting freeform answers, the entire SMS/MMS message may beautomatically used as the response. Alternatively, the dispatcher may berequired to read the response and to select the corresponding answereven if a number code is used and/or to select the text to be includedin a freeform answer. In response to some preprogrammed inquiries, theperson needing assistance may find it simpler to send an MMS message,such as a picture or video. For example, a preprogrammed inquiry may askfor the suspect's description, and the person needing assistance may beable to send a picture or video showing the suspect's currentappearance. The dispatcher may be able to copy and paste the receivedmultimedia item into the answers and/or save the received multimediaitem to the case. In some embodiments, received multimedia items and/orall SMS/MMS messages sent and/or received may be automatically saved tothe case and/or inserted into the answers.

The user interface 300 may present navigation buttons 572 a, 572 b toenable the dispatcher to indicate to the user interface 300 to navigateback or forward, respectively, in the emergency dispatch protocol. Thedispatcher can select the forward navigation button 572 b to indicate tothe user interface 300 that the dispatcher is ready to proceed in theprotocol. The dispatcher can select the back navigation button 572 a togo back in the protocol. Accordingly, when the dispatcher selects theforward navigation button 572 b, the protocol advances and the userinterface 300 may present a next instruction and/or preprogrammedinquiry.

The user interface 300 may also present an answers pane 574 to displayinput received in relation to previous instructions and/or preprogrammedinquiries. For example, the answers pane 574 of FIG. 5 displays thedispatcher-entered input provided for multiple previously presentedpreprogrammed inquiries and/or instructions presented by the dispatchprotocol 124; e.g., “1. The caller is on scene. 2. The caller is thevictim . . . 5. It is not known if weapons were involved or mentioned.”The answers pane 574 enables a dispatcher to quickly review previousresponses for accuracy and to thereby improve understanding of thesituation and/or incident reported by the person needing assistance. Ifthe dispatcher were to inadvertently select an incorrect input in theinput field 505, the dispatcher can readily recognize the error in theanswers pane 574 and navigate back in the protocol by selecting the backnavigation button 572 a and then select a correct input.

While specific embodiments and applications of the disclosure have beenillustrated and described, it is to be understood that the disclosure isnot limited to the precise configuration and components disclosedherein. Various modifications, changes, and variations apparent to thoseof skill in the art may be made in the arrangement, operation, anddetails of the methods and systems of the disclosure without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An automated emergency dispatch system, comprising: an electronic display; a communication device configured to send short message service (SMS) messages, multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages, or a combination thereof; one or more input devices; and an emergency dispatcher computing device, comprising: one or more processors electrically coupled to the electronic display, the one or more input devices, and the communication device; and a memory device electrically coupled to the one or more processors, the memory device including computer-readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions configured to instruct the one or more processors to: cause the electronic display to display a plurality of preprogrammed inquiries for an emergency dispatcher operating the automated emergency dispatch system to present to a person needing assistance; and cause the communication device to automatically transmit at least one of the plurality of preprogrammed inquiries displayed by the electronic display to a device of the person needing assistance as one of an SMS message and an MMS message responsive to detecting an input from the emergency dispatcher with the one or more input devices without the emergency dispatcher copying and/or transcribing the at least one of the plurality of preprogrammed inquiries.
 2. The automated emergency dispatch system of claim 1, wherein the memory device includes data corresponding to the preprogrammed inquiries stored thereon.
 3. The automated emergency dispatch system of claim 1, wherein the memory device includes data corresponding to a logic tree stored thereon, and the computer-readable instructions are configured to process responses of the person needing assistance according to predetermined logic of the logic tree.
 4. The automated emergency dispatch system of claim 3, wherein the computer-readable instructions are configured to cause the electronic display to provide the emergency dispatcher information concerning an emergency dispatch response determined based, at least in part, on the responses of the person needing assistance and the predetermined logic of the logic tree.
 5. The automated emergency dispatch system of claim 3, wherein the computer-readable instructions are configured to cause the electronic display to provide the emergency dispatcher post-dispatch instructions for relay to the person needing assistance before professional help arrives at a location of the person needing assistance based, at least in part, on the responses of the person needing assistance and the predetermined logic of the logic tree.
 6. The automated emergency dispatch system of claim 3, wherein the computer-readable instructions are configured to cause the electronic display to provide information to aid the emergency dispatcher in determining a priority of an emergency communication between the emergency dispatcher and the person needing assistance based, at least in part, on the responses of the person needing assistance and the predetermined logic of the logic tree.
 7. The automated emergency dispatch system of claim 6, wherein the priority of the emergency communication includes one of a priority of the emergency communication relative to other emergency communications and a level of emergency response to provide for a situation reported by the person needing assistance.
 8. The automated emergency dispatch system of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of preprogrammed inquiries are automatically transmitted to the device of the person needing assistance responsive to no more than two actions by the emergency dispatcher.
 9. The automated emergency dispatch system of claim 8, wherein the no more than two actions comprise a selection by the emergency dispatcher of the at least one of the plurality of preprogrammed inquiries to bring up a menu on the electronic display, and selecting a send SMS command in the menu by the emergency dispatcher using the one or more input devices.
 10. The automated emergency dispatch system of claim 8, wherein the no more than two actions comprise no more than two single key-strokes on the one or more input devices by the emergency dispatcher.
 11. A method of operating an emergency dispatcher computing device, the method comprising: displaying, on an electronic display, preprogrammed inquiries for an emergency dispatcher operating the emergency dispatcher computing device to inquire of a person needing assistance; detecting a selection of one of the preprogrammed inquiries by the emergency dispatcher; and automatically transmitting one of a short message service (SMS) message and a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message including the selected one of the preprogrammed inquiries to a device of the person needing assistance without the emergency dispatcher copying and/or transcribing the at least one of the plurality of preprogrammed inquiries.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein automatically transmitting one of an SMS message and an MMS message including the selected one of the preprogrammed inquiries comprises shortening the selected one of the preprogrammed inquiries prior to sending the one of the SMS message and the MMS message by replacing one or more words of the selected one of the preprogrammed inquiries with common abbreviations.
 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving a responsive message comprising one of an SMS message and an MMS message from the device of the person needing assistance, the responsive message responding to the selected one of the preprogrammed inquiries transmitted to the device of the person needing assistance.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the responsive message includes a single character indicating one of a “yes” response and a “no” response to the selected one of the preprogrammed inquiries transmitted to the device of the person needing assistance.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein a single character indicating a “yes” response comprises a “1” character, and a single character indicating a “no” response comprises a “2” character.
 16. The method of claim 13, further comprising logging all SMS/MMS messages sent and received by the computing device to a persistent storage device.
 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a determinant value from responses of the person needing assistance to the preprogrammed inquiries, the determinant value indicating a determined level of seriousness of a situation of the person needing assistance.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the determinant value indicates a determined level of seriousness ranging between a generally very serious emergency and a generally less serious emergency.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the determinant value is a combination of a determinant level, indicated by one of Alpha A, Bravo B, Charlie C, Delta D, Echo E, and Omega Ω, and a numeric value, indicated by one of “1” and “2,” with Ω-2 being the least serious and E-1 being the most serious.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including computer-readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions configured to instruct at least one processor to perform a method, the method comprising: causing an electronic display, during an emergency call between a person needing assistance and an emergency dispatcher, to display preprogrammed inquiries for the emergency dispatcher to inquire of the person needing assistance; accepting one or more inputs from the emergency dispatcher indicating one or more of the preprogrammed inquiries; and automatically transmitting the selected one or more of the preprogrammed inquiries to a device of the person needing assistance in one of a short message service (SMS) message and a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message without the emergency dispatcher copying and/or transcribing the selected one or more of the preprogrammed inquiries. 